February 2022
Interesting birds about lately include the nine Glossy Ibis still around the Burness area, a few Common Scoter off Ouseness, a Buzzard in the Westside and a couple of Kumlein’s Gulls at Skelwick. The Kumlein’s Gull is a sub...
Read moreJanuary 2022
Winter often brings us visitors from further north and that has certainly been true recently. We have had both Glaucous and Iceland Gulls present within the last couple of months. The accompanying photos show a young Iceland and a...
Read moreAugust 2021
As well as the usual migrant waders and the like, recent interesting bird sightings have included a Green Sandpiper at Loch of Burness and a juvenile Cuckoo at the White Moss. When Cuckoos are seen in late summer, they...
Read moreNovember 2021
A few interesting birds turned up around the end of October and beginning of November. These included a Black Redstart near Monivey, a Red-breasted Flycatcher at Broughton, a Siskin at West Kirbest and a Grey Phalarope at Loch of...
Read moreSeptember 2021
Autumn is a time of migration for birds and, in fact, this begins in what we think of as the summer. Many waders pass through Westray at this time of year from breeding grounds further north in places like...
Read moreOctober 2021
Around the middle of October, favourable winds brought a fall of migrant songbirds to Westray. These included lots of thrushes, mainly Redwings but also included good numbers of Blackbirds and Song Thrushes with a small number of Ring Ouzels...
Read moreApril 2021
This Marsh Harrier spent a bit of time targeting rabbits near to Loch of Burness. A nice surprise was this Black Kite which had made it’s way over to Westray from Papa Westray, were it had been seen...
Read more